Vintage stories with the unique flavour [and] lilt of the purvaiya (easterly winds)Tully underpins his witty clear-sightedness with empathy[A] master storyteller.Financial ExpressIn this delightful collectionhis second work of fictionone of the most celebrated observers of Indian politics and society takes us back to the 1980s, when India was at a crossroad and economic liberalization was yet to happen. Set in the villages of eastern Uttar Pradesh, these are stories about ordinary people finding memorable ways to deal with bad governance, inequality and corruption. A timid, elderly Dalit defies tradition to build a temple; a farmers wife plots to save her family from the follies of her tractor-hating husband; a retired headmistress leads the fight to save an endangered railway line; a politicians son discovers that politics isnt a family business after all; a peaceable, unambitious sub-inspector surprises everyone by solving a high-profile murder. Marked by warmth, wit and a keen and compassionate eye for the everyday human theatre of rural India,Upcountry Talesis a supremely engaging collection.